Of Immortals and Other Disasters
by Quicksilver
Summary: One of the net's first HL/Buffy xovers, finally archived at ff.net. Written- three years ago or so. Methos as a teacher- in Sunnydale? Story 1 of 4.


Of Immortals and Other Disasters Of Immortals and Other Disasters   
By Quicksilver   
mbsilvana@yahoo.com 

Standard Disclaimers   
Feedback! Feedback! No flames.... be gentle with my artistic soul.   
Let me know if you're posting it to somewhere else- I'll probably say yes.   
I REALLY need a beta reader..... any volunteers?   
Buffy: Takes place before Becoming, after Passion. Got it? Ms Calendar's dead, and Angel is soul-less.   
Highlander: Takes place in the non-existent six season- I REFUSE to acknowledge Richie's death. 5000 years without seeing a demon? I think not. And Methos is still his own Watcher.   
The Highlander Fanfic season was excellent- and gave me an idea. Methos would make an interesting teacher.... and what if he just happened to be teaching in Sunnydale?   
NOTE: All Civil War references are for my angelic (Angelus?) brother who is a re-enactor. Blame him. 

"So have you seen him yet?" Buffy asked her two closest friends, Willow and Xander.   
"Seen who?" Xander asked, trying to get the straws out of his nose. He'd just been demonstrating the "tusk" look when Cordelia Chase, his love/hate girlfriend, walked by.   
"The new history teacher. Remember, Ms Mowery had to leave," Buffy said innocently, batting her big eyes.   
"The stake you were waving at her had nothing to do with it," Willow agreed.   
Buffy's face darkened. Angelus went too far, she said mentally. He was starting to hit too close. Next time.... she promised herself mentally, just as she had before. Next time I'll be able to do it. He'll die. He's not MY Angel anymore. All that's left is the demon that took his place.   
"... new teacher?" Xander was saying.   
"Huh?" Buffy asked, snapping back to reality.   
"Who's the new teacher?" Xander repeated, having grown used to the distance Buffy had placed between herself and her friends. It hurt him deeply, but there was no way he was going to be able to break through to the Slayer. Only one person (thing?) could do that, and Angel was gone.   
"Name's Mr. Pierson," Buffy replied. "He's a hottie."   
Willow smiled. "Really? I haven't seen him yet."   
Xander felt out of depth with all the girl talk. "What's he like?"   
"I don't know. We'll find out soon. We have him for US History this afternoon." Buffy said, not really concerned. Since her birthday, she'd just gone through the motions of living, not really feeling anything. Get up, go to school, eat, Slay, go to bed, get up....   
Willow watched Buffy's face fall back into its resign lifeless expression. Something was going to have to shake her loose, or there'd be one Dead Slayer. Willow shuddered to think of it.   
  
Buffy slipped into her seat just as the bell rang. Willow and Xander were already passing notes, so she wasn't surprised when one landed on her desk. Just as she was about to pick it up, a slender hand reached out and picked it up.   
She looked up into the most beautiful pair of eyes she'd ever seen, aside from... She shook her head. Damn it. She would NOT think about him.   
"Do you mind?" he asked gently. He opened the note and read it quickly. "Interesting, but irrelevant to the subject at hand. I would ask you curtail your note passing unless it is related to the class- and that's history." He tossed the note back onto her desk and moved towards the front of the room.   
Willow had turned a bright cherry red. Buffy looked at the note and wanted to sink into the floor. The new teacher has a gorgeous derrière, it read. Oh, boy. What a first impression.   
He arrived at the front of the room. "My name is Mr. Pierson. I'll be your teacher from now on. Since Ms Mowery left unexpectedly, it seems you have been sadly lacking in instruction. So in other words, opened your books and shut your mouths. You have ten minutes to read the overview of the Chapter on Gettysburg and other Civil War battles. If you finish that, keep reading. Then we will have a graded discussion." He smiled cheerily, then went to his desk and started to read.   
Buffy opened her book and stared at the words. They weren't making any sense. She wished that she would be allowed to cut this class- cut all her classes. When her life expectancy was less than twenty-two, it made no sense for her to waste her time like this.   
Adam Pierson looked up and looked at her. She was hardly what he'd been expecting. The Slayer was usually solitary, but this one wasn't. He could feel the intensity of her presence, almost like that of an Immortal. With a sigh, he glanced at the clock. Time to start drilling some history into these rebellious minds. When he got his hands on Joe.... 

"But that's impossible!" Methos exclaimed. "The Slayer has NEVER been a pre-immortal. It can't happen! The very nature of her job makes it impossible."   
"According to Giles, this Slayer is not a normal one. Buffy Summers has actually come back to life already- artificial respiration, but that's not all. You know what her life expectancy is. If she IS a pre-Immortal, she'll need a good teacher, and you're the only one I can think of."   
"What about MacLeod?" Methos asked testily. He glanced around Joe's bar, hoping to get out of this.   
"I can't send a known immortal there. It's the Hellmouth, and the God knows what could happened. She's special, Methos, and YOU are the Watcher best equipped to deal with this situation. You're going, Adam. As your superior, I have no choice....'   
"How will you justify sending me?" Adam asked, wondering if there was any way out of this.   
"Remember Kalas? What happens if another Immortal finds out about the Watchers and uses them to hunt Methos? For some reason, Immortals don't stay near Hellmouths for long. 'Adam Pierson' will be safer there."   
"Safer, ha! Immortals are smart enough to know that a Hellmouth is a BAD place to be. Some of the things that come out of there.... can't I just ask MacLeod to take my head? If you really want me dead that badly, it'd be easier just to say so," Methos retorted. He really DID NOT want to end up anywhere near the Hellmouth of Sunnydale.   
"Methos...." Joe said warningly. "I'll cut off your bar tab. It's only for three months- long enough for her to get to know you for when the time comes.... then after her First Death, you bring her to a good teacher, like MacLeod."   
Methos flinched at the possibility of his supply of cheap beer getting cut off. "My bar tab? Now that's a low blow."   
"I'll do it. You know it."   
Methos got up and stalked to the door. "Three months- that's all. And I'll get you for this." He slammed the door, swearing in many foreign languages.   
Joe laughed. "I love you, too," he called out in the Ancient Man's wake. 

Buffy watched as Mr. Pierson got to his feet. He really was a hottie, she thought, surprised that she even noticed.   
"Okay, what can you little delinquents tell me of Gettysburg?" he asked in a bored tone.   
Willow raised her hand, of course. "What exactly do you want to know?"   
"Who's fault was it? How many men died? What could have been done to avoid it? What started it? What was the Confederacy's fatal mistake? Who gets the blame for showboating? Was Robert E. Lee in full command of his mental abilities at the time? Who-" he continued to ramble onwards.   
Buffy glanced at Xander and noticed that his eyes were already glazed.   
Mr. Pierson started in on a lecture that half the class couldn't follow. He recited dates and places, and talked about the people involved as though they were old friends. Buffy felt her eyes start to glaze over as well. Mr. Pierson was brilliant, too brilliant to be a normal school teacher. Her Slayer senses started to tingle. Something wasn't right.   
She sat up and started to study him. A graceful build, gorgeous hands, majestic nose and those eyes.... she shook herself. Damn it.   
Finally the bell rang, shaking the class out of its trance. They started to file slowly out the door, drained. Buffy exited last, tossing a suspicious glance at Mr. Pierson. He looked up from the book he'd been reading, and gave her a knowing smile. 

"Graded discussion?" Xander snorted. "Really. None of us even had a chance to get a word in edgewise. That guy really loves the sound of his own voice," he said to Willow. School had ended, and they were watching Buffy beat the shit out of Giles. "Um, Giles..." he called, noticing Buffy's fervor. It seemed that Slaying was the only thing she still had a passion for. Bad for the vampires, and REALLY bad for Giles' potential children. If he was still able to HAVE children.   
"What?" Giles grunted, as Buffy landed nasty blow to the stomach.   
"Buffy's been batting you around for a half an hour. Isn't it time to finish? In the interest of your own health?" Xander asked, getting a giggle out of Willow.   
"Um, yes. Buffy, I believe that's enough for today," Giles said, removing some of the protective padding slowing. No matter how thick his pads were, he'd still end up with some nasty bruises.   
"Funny. Mr. Pierson is just like Giles.... I mean the big words and stuffy mannerisms... they don't look anything alike.... Mr. Pierson is MUCH cuter.... not that you're not cute Giles.... I'm going to be quiet now," Willow said, flushing deeply when she noticed everyone in the room looking at her.   
"Mr. Pierson?" Giles asked curiously. "His first name wouldn't be Adam, now, would it?"   
Buffy shrugged her slender shoulders. "I don't know. Something about him is not... right, though. I was going to mention it to you."   
"I'll consult my books as soon as you tell me WHAT'S not right with him. But if it's Adam Pierson-"   
"-and it is," an accented voice interrupted. The Slayerettes all spun around to watch Mr. Pierson enter the library. None of them had heard him enter. He was wearing a long black coat, odd in itself.   
"Adam!" Giles cried out, smiling with genuine warmth.   
Adam inclined his head, oddly graceful. "Rupert," he said coolly, then smiled cheerfully. "How's life on the Hellmouth treating you?" he asked.   
Buffy tensed. "You know about the Hellmouth?" she asked, glancing at Giles, feeling betrayed.   
Adam's grin widened. "Of course. No good Watcher is ignorant of Hellmouths and other such unnatural disasters. Basic Watcher training."   
"Adam! Watch it!" Giles snapped.   
"Watcher?" Willow asked quickly. "You watch a potential Slayer?"   
Adam looked at Giles. "The higher-ups sent me. For some reason, they think Buffy is going to need my knowledge."   
"Now wait just a minute," Buffy interrupted. "Let's start from the very beginning. You-" she waved a finger at Adam- "are a Watcher."   
"Yes."   
"You know Giles," Buffy said quietly.   
"He was my advisor at the Watcher Academy," Adam agreed, looking almost bored.   
"Not that he listened to me much," Giles mumbled under his breath.   
"Watcher Academy? You mean they have a school for you guys? What do they teach? How to press tweed?" Xander asked, unable to keep quiet any longer.   
Giles sighed, and rubbed his temples. His headache was getting worse.   
"Let me handle this, Rupert," Adam said soothingly. "Yes, child, there is a Watcher Academy," he said, mocking the famous Santa line. "What Giles hasn't told you is that there's more to the Watchers then the Slayer. There's many branches, but I belong to the Immortal research team." He smiled gently.   
"Immortals?" Willow asked. "You mean like vampires and demons and...." she trailed off, uncomfortably aware of Mr. Pierson's attention.   
Adam shook his head, denying it. "There's a group of individuals who live forever, unless they get their heads chopped off. They run around killing each other in what they call "The Game". Ridiculous, but that's how they live."   
"Why do they chop each others heads off?" Willow asked shyly.   
"Trying to get ultimate power. Each time one of them dies, an energy field is released called "The Quickening". In the end, there can be only One. The One will have ultimate power. The Watchers are merely keeping records- it'll be important for us, as mortals, to know how to deal with whoever the One is."   
"So we're basically talking about a God-complex thing, here?" Xander asked.   
"Something of the sort," Mr. Pierson said dryly.   
"And what are you doing here?" Giles asked testily. He was NOT a happy Watcher.   
"I'm here for three months. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to hanging around the Hellmouth. As soon as these three months are over, I'm- as you Americans say- out of here," Adam said. "Come, Giles. Don't look so depressed."   
"Three months of you? Can I be anything but?" Giles retorted. He liked Adam, but the man was beyond exasperating. His precious books weren't safe.   
"Wait just a minute," Buffy interrupted. "I'm going to need to know about Immortals? What, is there a shipload coming to take over the Hellmouth or something?"   
Adam laughed lightly. "Hardly. Immortals are too intelligent to want to hang around a Hellmouth. All sorts of nasty things can crawl out of it. The bosses told me to come here, so here I am. That doesn't mean I'm happy about it." He started to walk towards Giles' office.   
"Where are you going?" Giles asked sharply.   
"I'm swiping some of your books. While I'm here, I'll do a little work," Adam called, disappearing into the office.   
Giles shook his head. It was going to be an interesting three months. "Do any of you have anything for a headache?" 

Adam Pierson walked into the computer room early the next morning, stifling a yawn. He was going to KILL Joe. Not only was he on top of one of the most dangerous places on Earth, but he had to teach a bunch of juvenile delinquents. Maybe it was time to consider killing "Adam Pierson" and becoming somebody else. Somebody who had the sense God gave little green apples. MacLeod was influencing him in all the wrong ways.   
Adam flicked the computer on and waited while it booted up. It wasn't that slow, but the computer he had in France.... He shook his head. Damn it. School equipment- what fun! Always three years behind the rest of the world.   
He logged onto the net, and smiled as he passed about ten security checkpoints to get to his mail. The Watchers were paranoid.   
One close up, three questions on Methos, one possible Methos sighting. The usual. He quickly threw the answers back for the questions, then read the close up. Lillian Broderick- a newby who hadn't even had a chance to learn how to use a sword. The Game didn't wait for anyone.   
The sighting was a little different. He bit his lip, wondering if there was another Methos impersonator. The last one had almost gotten Richie killed- the kid was stupid, but didn't deserve to die. This one, on the other hand, had taken several heads using Methos' name. Adam considered what to do. The last thing he needed was for some Immortal to come hunting for vengeance. And it wasn't even his fault. He started to consider the options as he erased all the messages and logged off.   
Adam sighed, then started to type up a Quiz on Gettysburg. Nasty event. He was glad he'd missed it.   
A noise came from the door, and he looked up. It was the red head he'd met yesterday, Buffy's friend. He smiled at her, trying to remember her name. "Willow, right?" he said finally, hoping he'd gotten it right. She was named for some kind of tree and Maple just didn't fit her....   
She smiled shyly at him. Bingo. "Yes, Mr. Pierson." She set her books on the teacher's desk, then walked over to him. She moved with the awkwardness of a young colt, but Methos wasn't fooled. In ten years she would be more beautiful than most of the school's beauty queens. She'd be pretty for the rest of her life, with her gentle smile and all.   
"Good Morning," he replied. "What are you doing here this early?"   
Her fawn-like eyes darkened with sadness. He'd must have struck a nerve. "The old computer teacher was killed. I'm filling in for her until they get a replacement."   
"She was your friend?" he asked, recognizing that the pain was deeper than it should be for a teacher.   
"She saved my life," Willow replied softly.   
"My condolences," he said, getting to his feet. "I assume it had something to do with the Hellmouth?" he asked. "I don't mean to pry, but-"   
"That's okay. A vampire got her," Willow said shortly.   
There's more here, Methos thought. I'll get it eventually. If he'd learned anything in his five thousand years, it was patience. He finished the Quiz and commanded it to print. The sound of the dot matrix printer filled the silence, and both student and teacher were lost in their own thoughts. 

Buffy entered the history class with trepidation. Mr. Pierson had promised a test (on his second day!) and she didn't want to see what he considered a test. It probably would be akin to writing a master's thesis.   
She walked down the aisle, wondering why she even cared anymore. It wasn't like she was going to live long enough to use her education, anyway.   
Mr. Pierson was slouched in his chair. Buffy noted that he seemed to melt right into it, appearing almost boneless. He tossed an absentminded smile at her, then went back to his book. She tried to read the title, but it was in some foreign language. Figured. Mr. Pierson and Giles probably talked in Latin over lunch.   
The rest of the class quickly came in. Strangely enough, no one was late. Buffy nibbled on the end of her pencil, waiting for the inevitable. She didn't have to wait long.   
"Paul, right?" Mr. Pierson said, indicating the kid in the very back of the room with a finger without looking up from his reading. Paul nodded, wondering what he had done to deserve Mr. Pierson's attention. "Speak up, boy," Mr. Pierson said.   
"Y-yes," Paul stammered.   
"Please take the tests off my desk and hand them out to the class," the teacher said, then fell back into his reading. He was oblivious to the rest of the class.   
Paul quickly did his errand, then sat back down to study the rest of the test. The class sat in stunned silence. The questions were extremely complex, and somewhat obscure. Buffy signed her name to the top, then just stared at the paper. There was no way she'd be able to pass. She doubted Willow would be able to pass this.   
Mr. Pierson let them stew for about ten minutes before putting his book aside. "How are we coming, class?" he said. Buffy looked up at him, and noticed the humor dancing in his eyes. We're toast, she thought.   
Nobody replied to his question, so Mr. Pierson got out of his seat. He picked up Harmony's paper and smiled. "Having problems, are we?" he asked Cordelia's side-kick.   
She nodded, frightened. He tossed the paper back on her desk, and spoke. "Pass all the exams to the front of the room."   
The exams were handed up silently, and Mr. Pierson took them. Without looking at them, he tore them all up. The sound of ripping paper startled the class, who now all wore the deer-in-headlights expression. "Now that you've seen how my tests are, I think we can dispense with the frivolous things. I am here to teach you, not test you. Pay attention and learn, and you'll get the grade I feel you deserve. Does anyone feel this is unfair?" he asked. His class remained silent.   
"Good. Then let's start with question number one. As you may know, Gettysburg is not a single battle, but rather many battles, all fought within three days...."   
  
After school, Giles knocked on the door of Adam's classroom. Adam from what he was writing, and smiled warmly. "Well, Rupert, what do you want?" he asked. The legal pad he was writing on was tossed aside.   
"Why are you here, Adam?" Giles asked curtly.   
"I told you-"   
"The real reason," Giles demanded.   
Adam looked serious. "They sent me to see if Buffy was a pre-immortal," Adam said.   
Giles sank down into one of the student's desk. "What?" he whispered.   
Adam got to his feet and started to pace. "She just seems like it. She has the luck, and she shouldn't have been able to survive some things that have happened to her."   
Giles frowned. "But they've never been able to figure out how to tell if someone is a pre-immortal," he said, not liking the idea of Buffy possibly becoming an Immortal. She's suffered so much already- she didn't need to join the Game.   
"There's a theory floating around the Watchers. I assume you're not on the Immortal E Mailing list?" Adam asked. "I know you HATE computers."   
"I don't have E Mail," Giles confirmed.   
"Thought so. Anyway, there's a theory that states pre-immies have something in them that helps them live long enough to mature before they enter the Game. That's why there's so few child Immortals, and most Immortals are in the Prime of their lives," Adam said.   
"So Buffy's pre-Immortality is helping her survive? I thought it was her Slayer abilities," Giles said.   
"There's more to it than that," Adam said. "If she is a pre-Immortal- imagine her chances in the Game. With her Slayer abilities, she'd be one of the best."   
Giles shook his head. "I thought that it was impossible for the Slayer to be an Immortal."   
Adam shrugged. "So did I. Can you imagine what would happen if she got turned into a vampire? I've only seen one record of that happening, and it wasn't pretty."   
"So what do we do?" Giles asked.   
"We do what we've always done. We watch... and wait. Either she is or isn't. We'll know soon enough, either way," Adam said.   
"What do you mean... soon enough?" Giles asked.   
"You know what her life expectancy is. No Slayer's ever survived pass twenty five." 

Buffy sat on a gravestone, a stake held in each hand. She was here, waiting. She'd only staked one vampire so far. Another hour and she could call it quits.   
She felt something dance across her skin. The preternatural abilities that made her the Slayer were warning her that something was coming. She watched as the shadows solidified into a shape. Angelus.   
The demon wearing her beloved's face was smiling at her, a loving smile. She got to her feet, ready to fight him, and she would kill him this time, she promised herself.   
"Hello, babe," he said, leaning against the nearest tombstone. "Long time, no see."   
"What do you want, Angelus," she said almost wearily. "Is it important, or can we get back to business and kill each other?"   
He laughed, sending a familiar wave of heat through her body. It's not Angel, it's not Angel, she reminded herself. Hard to remember when he look just like him.   
"Well, we could, or you can listen to me," He waved a hand mockingly around the graveyard, and she caught the familiar flash of his claddagh ring, still facing inwards. He belonged to someone. It's not Angel, it's not Angel, she repeated mentally. Damn, it was getting harder.   
"What do you want?" she asked, raising one of her stakes.   
"Tsk, tsk," he chided her. "Violent tonight, aren't we? You're acting sort of... pre menstrual. I can smell it on you," he said in his sensual voice.   
Buffy closed her eyes. He was making it too intimate. "Out with it, or you're going to be dining of a stake dinner," she punned. Bad pun. He really shook her up.   
"I've missed the old times. Being cryptic, ya know? So I decided, that, for old times' sake I'd give you a little warning." He inched closer until his face was less than inches from her own. "Beware the Undying Ones," he whispered, then kissed her gently. Buffy closed her eyes... oh, she'd missed him so much. Then she heard him laugh. When she opened her eyes, she was gone.   
She gathered her pain within herself and put it in the small corner of her heart where she stored all her memories of Angel. She'd cry later. Right now she had to go and talk to Giles.   
  
It took less than ten minutes to get the gang all into the library. Mr. Pierson was with them, since he and Giles had been having a "discussion". Of course, the discussion had been loud enough to hear at the other end of the school.   
"I saw Angel," Buffy said quietly.   
"Did-did he try to hurt you?" Willow asked, concerned.   
"Wait a second. Angel?" Adam asked.   
"Buffy's ex. He's a vampire," Xander said, trying to keep it simple. There was no reason for Mr. Pierson to know all the details.   
"What did he want?" Giles asked.   
Buffy's face grew almost wistful. "He gave me a warning- for old times' sake. He said something about the Undying Ones. Could it be Immortals?"   
Before Giles could answer, Adam spoke. "No. For the first thing, Immortals are relatively easy to kill. Chop their head off, they're dead. Secondly, no Immortal would be stupid enough to hang around a Hellmouth. Bad vibes." He seemed to reconsider. "Well, very few Immortals would be that dumb," he said, almost as if to himself.   
"If it's not Immortals, then what?" Buffy asked.   
Giles sighed. "I've never heard a prophecy about the Undying Ones. I'll have to-"   
"Consult my books," Willow and Xander filled in.   
Adam Pierson rubbed his chin. "I'll check Watcher records. There might be something there."   
"I've got the net," Willow chimed in.   
Xander and Buffy looked at each other. "I guess we'll help Giles," Xander said, sighing. "Research boy to the rescue."   
  
Methos watched the others head off on their own searches. Strange. The Slayer had never been accompanied before, but it seemed to help this one. Buffy Summers, one of a kind.   
Perhaps even more than they realized. Methos was frustrated with his inability to tell if Buffy was a pre-Immortal or not. The abilities that made her the Slayer also fuzzed his ability to detect latent Immortality. He watched as Willow conducted search after search, then turned to his own business. He logged onto the Watcher site, then clicked into a place he hardly ever access, the preternatural studies. He conducted a search and....   
"Oh, shit," he said aloud. Willow looked up at him. "Did you find something?" she asked.   
He started to swear. "Damn it, we're fucking idiots!" He continued swearing, falling into French and Latin when English became inadequate.   
By this time his tirade had drawn the attention of everyone. "What is it?" Giles asked, trying not to flinch when Adam began to describe acts that were physically impossible.   
"We've been taken for idiots! It seems that "The Undying Ones" are what-"   
"Vampires call themselves," a voice finished from the door. Angelus walked in, followed by a couple of the standard goons. "Hail, hail, the gang's all here!" he called gleefully.   
Willow looked at Adam, wondering how he would take his first sight of vampires. Angelus was wearing his "natural" face, and look hideous. Adam, although pale, didn't look scared. He looked furious.   
And Methos was. "Angelus!" he yelled with a rage he thought himself incapable. 

Flashback: 1805 (France) 

Dr. Benjamin Adams walked along the shore, delighted with the moonlight on the bay. He looked at Charlotte, his fiancee. He'd told her of his Immortality, and she hadn't rejected him yet. He looked at her lovely face and was relieved that, for now, he had company on his solitary journey through life.   
"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" he asked, smiling gently at Charlotte. She brought all the tenderness and caring out of him, delicate emotions he thought lost long ago.   
"Everyday I spend with you is beautiful," she answered softly, clutching tighter to his arm. He laughed and kissed her free hand, then released it. They continued to walked silently, enjoying the calm night.   
Methos heard the sound of footsteps behind them after about ten minutes. He turned to see what it was, pushing Charlotte behind him protectively.   
"Quite a night, huh?" a masculine voice called. There was no Buzz, but that didn't mean much. It could be a mugger.   
"Indeed, my friend," Methos answered, propelling Charlotte away from the Bay towards home. She looked up at him with worried eyes.   
"Quite a girl you have got there, too," the voice said, and a man stepped out of the shadows.   
Charlotte caught his face and screamed. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. "Vampire," Methos said coldly, reaching for his sword.   
"Indeed!" the vampire laughed. "But I prefer my name- Angelus." He smiled and took another step closer. Methos drew his sword and pushed Charlotte out of the way.   
"I know how to kill you, monster. And I'll do it," Methos threatened.   
"I'm sure you would, if you can catch me." Angelus ducked back into the shadows, and Methos turned around to get Charlotte out of there.   
Charlotte wasn't there, though. Angelus was, with his lips covered by red blood.   
"Charlotte!" Methos yelled loudly.   
"You want her back?" Angelus teased. He grabbed something from behind him, and threw it with amazing strength. Methos caught it without thinking.   
The something was Charlotte's body. Methos put her down gently, and checked for a pulse. Not there. "Damn you!" he yelled where Angelus had been standing. "Damn you!"   
All that answered him was the sound of Angelus' laughter.   
  
Present:   
"Angelus!" Adam yelled loudly. Buffy watched the man's eyes darken with amazing rage.   
Angelus took a look at Adam, and his mouth dropped open. "Well, this IS a surprise," Angelus said. "It's been- what, two hundred years or so?"   
"Not nearly long enough," Adam answered, ignoring the astonished stares the Slayerettes were giving him.   
"You're one of them!" Giles said, feeling betrayed. "You're an Immortal!"   
Adam, though, wasn't paying attention. He'd drawn a sword from somewhere- Buffy couldn't guess where- and took a threatening step towards Angelus. "Now we finish it," he said softly, dangerously.   
Angelus looked at his two goons. "Get him," he commanded.   
The goons looked uneasily at each other, then charged Adam. Adam swung his sword and took the head of the larger one, making him disappear into dust. The other one hesitated, trying to decide if it was better taking his chances with what Angelus would do to him. Angelus hissed, and the goon thought better of that idea. He lunged towards the sword-wielding man, only to have his neck meet the blade. He managed a small yelp before collapsing into dust.   
"Now that they're out of the way...." Adam said, walking towards Angelus. Angelus looked at Adam, then Buffy, then ran for the doors. The Slayerettes watched him, knowing that it would be near impossible to catch him. They looked at the dust on the floor, then to Adam Pierson. He was polishing off the broadsword.   
"That was interesting." Xander said. "Hey, Buff? Aren't YOU suppose to be the Slayer here?"   
Buffy just stared at Adam.   
"Okay, okay," Adam said irritably. "Yes, I'm Immortal, yes, I know that bastard, and yes, I'm going to kill him."   
"You'll have to wait in line," Buffy said.   
Giles seemed to have shaken himself out of his shock. "Adam? Is that you're real name?"   
Adam shrugged. "It is for now."   
Willow finally got up the courage to talk. "So how old are you?" she asked.   
"Older then I look, kid," Adam answered. The sword had disappeared.   
"About five thousand would be my guess," Giles said, having pieced the pieces together.   
Adam smiled at him. "Really?"   
"Yes, really. And I should be reporting this right now," Giles sighed.   
"But you won't," Adam said, glancing at all the Slayerettes. The implied threat was clear. If Giles tattled on him, Methos would tattle on the Slayer crew for existing.   
"That's that, then," Methos said, heading for the door. "See you tomorrow in class."   
The Slayerettes watched him leave. Finally Xander broke the silence. "Five thousand? Can we say geezer?"   
"I think he looks rather good for his age," Willow answered him. 

The next day Buffy walked into her history class. Strange to know they were being taught by someone who had lived through it all. Mr. Pierson (if that was his name) was sitting at his desk, slouched over a book. This time the title was in English. Interview with the Vampire.   
"Anne Rice?" Buffy asked, surprised. Is THAT what five thousand year old men read? she wondered to herself.   
He looked up and winked at her. "I'm reading up. If I'm going to be around here for a while, I'll need to know," he said.   
Buffy wondered if he was teasing or not. And she wasn't sure what would frighten her more. 

THE END 

FEEDBACK! FEEDBACK! 

Do Ya Want a Sequel? Lemme know!   
mbsilvana@yahoo.com   



End file.
